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LYSAGHT® Referee

An institution of the building & construction industry from Lysaght,
Australia’s trusted experience in steel

The LYSAGHT® Referee has been an Australian building and construction industry
institution since its first publication in Melbourne in 1897 as "The Metal Trades
Referee and Storekeepers Guide".

With over one hundred and ten years in circulation, this long and proud tradition
has seen the publication of thirty-two highly demanded editions. The eleventh
publication saw the first publication under the title "The LYSAGHT® Referee",
coinciding with the opening of LYSAGHT®'s first Australian factory at Newcastle in
New South Wales, and the first Australian production of ORB® brand galvanised
corrugated steel sheet.

Over many years, the LYSAGHT® Referee has become something of a steel-bible to
people in the building and construction industry as well as plumbers, farmers and
students of many disciplines. It was initially developed as a product guide, but over
time the Referee became a "how-to" guide, especially for farmers and country folk, on
everything from building a fence to animal husbandry. A lot of information is still in
the latest edition - although somewhat updated to encompass modern techniques.

Now considered unique and sometimes quirky, the relevance of the "useful" and
"general" information sections is now regarded as company heritage within the handbook
and the publishers feel it important to maintain these historical qualities.
Information such as stock breeding tables and hay stack volume calculations were
included to assist farmers and are known by the company to still be used today.

To browse through all the editions of the Referee is to take a journey through the
history of a company and a country, as well as to learn something of the various trades
and citizens catered for by the handbook. One sees reference to old LYSAGHT® brand
names, prices, terms, how to detect signs of or treat ague, apoplexy, delirium tremens,
rupture, snake bite, sore feet or sunstroke. Key highlights in Australian history can
also be noted, such as the conversion from imperial to metric systems of weights and
measures and implementation of the decimal currency system.

Compare the content in current edition of The LYSAGHT® Referee to that of the
first and you will notice vast developments in the progressive steel industry over
time. The first edition contained only thirty-two pages, a far cry from the 300 pages
detailed in the current edition. The diversification and development of the
LYSAGHT® business and products through time are detailed throughout each edition of
the handbook. Exploring buildings and architectural history along with The LYSAGHT®
Referees of that time demonstrates the way BlueScope and LYSAGHT® products have
helped shape the Australian built environment over the past one hundred and fifty
years.

The LYSAGHT® Referee is a sought after publication with many avid collectors
endeavouring to grow complete sets of the thirty-two editions. Early editions of the
handbook have been known to be sold in second-hand bookstores and in more recent years
have even been available for auction on the internet.

Please note: The information in these documents is included for historical general
interest purposes only. BlueScope does not endorse the content for current use and
recommends speaking with a suitable expert on related subject matters for current
practices.